Death toll from Oklahoma tornado rises to 18

The death toll from last week’s Oklahoma tornado is now at 18.

The victims of Friday’s storm included three veteran storm chasers. The Storm Prediction Center said the men were involved in tornado research.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin says the death toll could rise as emergency workers continue searching flooded areas for missing residents.

Read more: Tornado hunter pays tribute to deceased storm chasers

Among the dead were two children – a baby sucked out of the car with its mother and a 4-year-old boy who had sought shelter in a drainage ditch with family.

Interstates and roadways already packed with rush-hour traffic quickly became parking lots as people tried to escape the oncoming storm. Motorists were trapped in their vehicles – a place emergency officials say is one of the worst to be in a tornado.

“It was chaos. People were going southbound in the northbound lanes. Everybody was running for their lives,” said Terri Black, 51, a teacher’s assistant in Moore.

After seeing last month’s tornado also turn homes into piles of splintered rubble, Black said she decided to try and outrun the tornado when she learned her southwest Oklahoma City home was in harm’s way. She quickly regretted it.

When she realized she was a sitting duck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Black turned around and found herself directly in the path of the most violent part of the storm.

“My car was actually lifted off the road and then set back down,” Black said. “The trees were leaning literally to the ground. The rain was coming down horizontally in front of my car. Big blue trash cans were being tossed around like a piece of paper in the wind.

“I’ll never do it again.”

Read more: Saskatchewan tornado hunter recalls close call in Oklahoma

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph said the roadways were quickly congested with the convergence of rush-hour traffic and fleeing residents.

“They had no place to go, and that’s always a bad thing. They were essentially targets just waiting for a tornado to touch down,” Randolph said. “I’m not sure why people do that sort of stuff, but it is very dangerous. It not only puts them in harm’s way, but it adds to the congestion. It really is a bad idea for folks to do.”

– With files from AP’s Sean Murphy